About Tokenovate and the Team
Tokenovate is a next-generation post-trade lifecycle automation management platform for derivatives and SFTs. Our unified, data-agnostic and automated solution ensures seamless transaction processing across all asset classes, products and market infrastructures — no matter what you trade or where your assets are held.
By embedding industry standards like CDM directly into our technology, we harness the power of blockchain, smart contracts and tokenisation to drive automation, interoperability and efficiency across capital markets.
Founded in 2022, we are a UK-based start-up in the early commercialisation stage. We are fully funded. Our team is experienced, excited and empathetic. We blend in-house technical leadership and core development with outsourced services. We have a laser-sharp focus on what we want to achieve, and we need people who share our passion to own and drive success. Our sleeves are permanently rolled up, we have no egos, and we collaborate very well. Our offices are in Cambridge (in the Cambridge Science Park) and in the City of London.
The Job
The Product Owner - Blockchain role is a critical role in the development and success of our platform. The Product Owner is a key contributor within the Product Team, working closely with the Product and Engineering teams to define, build, and optimise blockchain-based financial products. The role bridges the gap between business goals and technology, ensuring that our product delivers maximum value to our customers. The Product Owner works with internal stakeholders to ensure that product features are clearly understood, accurately documented, effectively communicated and prioritised to meet business goals.
What you will do
As a Product Owner, your primary responsibility is to bridge the gap between business stakeholders (product leadership, customers, executives, marketing, etc.) and the engineering team. You are responsible for gathering, documenting, and communicating product requirements. This includes ensuring the integration of distributed ledger technology (DLT) into the platform, and aligning product features with blockchain security, scalability, and consensus mechanisms.You will engage with stakeholders to collect detailed requirements, which you will then document as business flows, user stories, and tasks using tools like Jira and Confluence.
As Product Owner, you will maintain and prioritise the product backlog, refining user stories to ensure they are ready for development. You will work closely with the Engineering Team to define blockchain-related product enhancements, including on-chain transaction processing, and integration within Tokenovate’s technology stack. You will facilitate discussions with the Engineering Team, ensuring that all necessary details are captured and understood, leading to successful execution of Tokenovate’s product roadmap. You will be involved in quality assurance efforts, participating in testing and validating new systems and processes to meet business requirements.
You will contribute to continuous improvement initiatives by identifying opportunities to optimise processes and enhance the overall product development workflow.
Key Responsibilities of a Tokenovate Product Owner - Blockchain:
Product Vision & Strategy:
* Communicate the product vision: Work with senior leadership and stakeholders to develop and communicate a clear product vision for blockchain-based financial infrastructure that aligns with the company’s overall strategy.
Product Backlog Management:
* Own the product backlog: Create, prioritise, and manage the product backlog, which includes features, enhancements, technical debt, and bug fixes.
* Prioritise features: Continuously prioritise the product backlog based on customer needs, business value, and technical feasibility to ensure the team is always focused on the most impactful work.
* Refinement: Regularly refine the product backlog by working with engineering and other stakeholders and adding details to user stories, acceptance criteria, and feature descriptions.
User Story Creation:
* Write user stories: Translate high-level features and ideas into detailed user stories and acceptance criteria that the engineering team can work on.
* Ensure clarity: Ensure that user stories are clear, concise, and easy to understand for the engineering team.
Sprint Planning & Execution:
* Sprint planning: Collaborate with the engineering team during sprint planning to define what can be delivered in each sprint and clarify the scope of work.
* Guide engineering efforts: Provide continuous input and clarification during the sprint to ensure that the team is aligned with the product vision and goals.
* Inspect and adapt: Participate in sprint reviews and retrospectives to assess progress, gather feedback, and adjust priorities or strategies.
Stakeholder Management:
* Act as the voice of the customer: Understand and represent the needs of customers, users, and stakeholders, ensuring their feedback and requirements are integrated into the product.
* Communication: Continuously communicate product progress, roadmap updates, and feature releases to stakeholders, ensuring they are aligned with the development process.
* Bridge the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and decentralised finance (DeFi), ensuring Tokenovate’s blockchain solutions meet institutional-grade standards.
Product Releases:
* Plan releases: Work with the engineering team to define release timelines and ensure that features are ready for delivery based on business priorities.
* Coordinate go-to-market activities: Collaborate with marketing, sales, and customer success teams to plan product launches, communicate feature updates, and ensure successful customer adoption.
Collaboration with Cross-Functional Teams:
* Work closely with engineering teams: Ensure the engineering team has a clear understanding of product requirements and priorities, and provide continuous feedback throughout the engineering process.
* Cross-functional collaboration: Collaborate with design, marketing, sales, and operations teams to ensure the product meets business goals, is marketable, and supports customer needs.
* Collaborate with the Chief Legal Officer to navigate regulatory requirements for tokenised financial instruments and blockchain transactions and to implement technical solutions.
Risk Management:
* Identify risks: Proactively identify potential risks to product engineering or delivery and work to mitigate these by adjusting priorities, resources, or scope.
* Manage expectations: Ensure all stakeholders are aware of risks, dependencies, and possible trade-offs during the product engineering cycle.
Product Documentation:
* Maintain product documentation: Keep product requirements, specifications, release notes, and user guides updated to ensure clear communication within the team and with external stakeholders.
In summary as a Product Owner will:
* Help define, manage and communicate the product vision, strategy, and backlog.
* Write clear and actionable user stories with well-defined acceptance criteria.
* Prioritise product features based on business value, customer needs, and technical feasibility.
* Work closely with the engineering team to ensure successful sprint execution.
* Engage with stakeholders to gather feedback, clarify requirements, and communicate progress.
* Define and track success metrics to evaluate product performance.
* Coordinate product releases and ensure cross-functional teams are aligned on go-to-market strategies.
Who you are
* You have 3-5 years of experience in product ownership, with a focus on product development and an understanding of Product Owner responsibilities.
* You have experience defining and delivering blockchain-based financial products, such as smart contract-driven settlements, tokenised securities, or decentralised finance applications.
* You are proficient in gathering and documenting requirements, and have experience creating user stories and process flows.
* You are familiar with blockchain protocols (e.g., Bitcoin, Ethereum, or similar) and token standards (e.g., UTXO, ERC-20).
* You have a strong understanding of cryptographic principles, consensus mechanisms (PoW, PoS, BFT), and decentralised transaction validation.
* You have experience integrating blockchain solutions with financial market structures, including clearing and settlement workflows.
* You have experience in managing and prioritising agile product backlogs and have worked with engineering teams to refine backlogs and will have facilitated sprint planning meetings.
* You are familiar with tools like Jira and Confluence for managing product backlogs, product documentation and workflows.
* You have strong analytical skills, capable of identifying trends and insights from data to inform product decisions.
* You possess excellent communication and facilitation skills, with the ability to manage relationships across departments and lead discussions.
* You are highly organised, detail-oriented, and proactive, with a strong sense of accountability and a commitment to delivering high-quality products.
* You are collaborative, eager to support team efforts, and capable of taking ownership of product development from conception to delivery.
* You are adaptable and thrive in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, with a focus on continuous learning and improvement.
* You have a university degree in a relevant discipline or a related field, or possess equivalent expertise through professional experience in these areas.
* You are passionate about decentralised finance (DeFi), tokenisation, and blockchain’s role in reshaping financial markets.